Whale Arts Agency

Wester Hailes Arts for Leisure and Education

0131 458 3267

Volunteering Opportunities for our Creative Arts and Wellbeing Programme  

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We are looking for some volunteers to support our Men’s Makers sessions and Open Studio sessions.

Open Studio Support

Open Studio is a space for people to come to try a new creative process or work on their own creative projects.

We are looking for a volunteer who will be there to help set up, chat to and support participants and help clear away afterwards.

Tuesdays, 9.30am-12.45pm and/or Thursdays 1pm-4.15pm 

More information: Creative Arts Programme Volunteer_Open Studio Support Role Description

Men’s Makers Support

Men’s Makers is a social session for men to come and develop their making skills. 

We are looking for a volunteer who identifies as male, to help set up, support the lead artist to run the sessions and serve up a meal.

Wednesdays, 10am – 2.00pm

More information: Creative Arts Programme Volunteer_Men’s Makers Support Role Description

To apply for either role or for further information please contact WHALE Arts: 

Email: volunteercoordinator@whalearts.co.uk 

Phone: 0131 458 3267 

WHALE Arts Appoints New CEO

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WHALE Arts Appoints CEO, WHALE new CEO Kate Griffin with board members Eunice Main and Allan McNaughton
Kate Griffin, CEO , centre, with Board Members Eunice Main and Allan McNaughton

WHALE Arts are delighted to announce the appointment of Kate Griffin as our new Chief Executive, replacing Leah Black, who leaves us in July 2024 after 6 years at WHALE.

Kate brings a wealth of experience and insight to the role, having held the posts of Interim Chief Executive since August 2022 and Head of Programmes prior to that. She has worked for more than twenty years across the creative sector, with a focus on national arts programmes and creative education.

Dr Andrew McNiven, Chair of Trustees, WHALE Arts

Kate’s expertise in the challenging and exciting field of community arts, her excellent interpersonal, management and strategic skills, and her deep understanding of Wester Hailes, allied to her ability to advocate for this community at regional and national level ,will, we feel sure, enable her to provide excellent opportunities for our participants and our community. On behalf of the WHALE Board, our members, participants and staff team, we wish her all the best in her new role.

We would like to thank Leah Black, our outgoing Chief Executive, for her excellent work as WHALE Chief Executive since 2018, and especially during the pandemic. WHALE Arts ability to adapt and work in supporting our communities during this difficult period was outstanding and widely recognised. We wish Leah good luck in her new exciting role leading Foundation Scotland’s Regenerative Futures Fund.

Kate Griffin, CEO, WHALE Arts said:

I’m absolutely thrilled to be appointed as WHALE Arts’ CEO. I’m looking forward to working with the team, participants, members, volunteers and Board at WHALE Arts to continue our award-winning work as the creative heart of our community 

Get involved: Community Asset Transfer of WHALE Arts’ land

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What is Community Asset Transfer?

Over the past several years legislation and national policy in Scotland has developed to encourage and support the ownership of assets (buildings and /or land) by communities. The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015; The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003; a joint COSLA/Scottish Government Statement 2008 and a Community Empowerment Action Plan in 2009.

Further reading here on the legislation – https://dtascommunityownership.org.uk/community/community-asset-transfer/asset-transfer-policy-benefits/what-asset-transfer

Why is WHALE Arts talking about Community Asset Transfer just now?

WHALE Arts has been working in Wester Hailes for 28 years, since 1992. Originally based in the Blue Hut on the Murrayburn Greenway, WHALE Arts moved to the site we work from today. The WHALE Arts Centre was designed and built in the late 90’s and opened in 2000. The reason we are talking about Asset Transfer now is because although the community own the building, the land is owned by City of Edinburgh Council and leased to WHALE Arts. The original 25 year lease has only 4 years left, running until 2024. We could ask City of Edinburgh Council to extend the lease instead of bringing the land into community ownership, however the benefits of full community ownership are clear (see below), so we felt that now is a good time to explore Asset Transfer.

What are the benefits of Community Ownership?

Usually communities use Community Asset Transfer to bring buildings and land into community ownership to create a new physical base for the community to work and/or socialise from. However, because WHALE Arts already own the building at 30 Westburn Grove, and from this base deliver a broad range of creative and community activities the reasons for doing this are less about creating a new space for the community and more about sustaining and securing this for the future. The focus will be on developing the building and the garden with a view to creating new enterprise activity which will create jobs, training and business opportunities for local residents and skills and capacity development for local residents in learning about community ownership.

Further reading here on the benefits of Community Ownership – https://dtascommunityownership.org.uk/community/community-asset-transfer/asset-transfer-policy-benefits/benefits-community-ownership

What is the process, how long will this take?

We need to demonstrate why it’s generic ambien doesn work important that the WHALE Arts Centre exists into the future and we need to show that the organisation can survive financially. In November 2020 WHALE Arts will submit a funding application to work with an expert on community consultation, business planning, and land valuation. If we are successful with this application we should have a new business plan by April 2021. During the summer 2021 we will work with the Members and the local community to take this to the next stage. The next stage will involve applying for funding to buy the land from City of Edinburgh Council, or have this transferred to us. So our hope is that this process will be complete by late 2021.

How can I get involved, find out more or feed my ideas in?

The Board are holding a Members session (on Zoom) on Thursday 15th October at 6pm. Any local residents who are not WHALE Arts Members are very welcome to come to the session as well. Please contact Leah Black for the zoom link and password (leah@whalearts.co.uk)

One of the stipulations of Asset Transfer is that we change our governing document to limit our membership to local residents of Wester Hailes. Currently the majority of our 50+ Members are local but we can also accept non-local members. We are really interested in hearing from local residents who would like to be involved in the Asset Transfer and would like to become Members of WHALE Arts. Members have voting rights (voting in the board of trustees) and can come along to our Members Breakfasts to help shape WHALE Arts projects and activities.

We have also created a very short survey to connect with local residents who have an interest in being involved in the Asset Transfer and the development of WHALE Arts in 2021 and beyond – please access this here.

Who are the Board of WHALE Arts?

We have 11 Trustees currently, and in line with our governing document, the majority are local residents. They are:

Andrew McNiven
Charlotte Binstead (local resident)
Denise Young
Euan MacLean
Eunice Main (local resident)
Emily Stevenson (local resident)
Grant Williams (Co-Chair)
Jade Jackson (local resident)
Kenneth Fowler (Co-Chair)
Ross Campbell (local resident)
Susan Gibson (local resident)

New Initiative for Community Wealth Building in South West Edinburgh

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Press Release: 22 July 2020

South West Edinburgh on the road to become first people-led ‘Community Wealth Building’ locality as GoBeyond reveals plan to build a ‘Community Wealth Building’ locality by 2030.

The collaborative approach, based on wellbeing economics and a greener recovery, is currently leading the Covid-19 recovery in South West Edinburgh.

Covid-19 increased demand for local support services overnight. In the Gorgie/Sighthill ward of Edinburgh, key anchors and small organisations came together to increase their capacity to address local challenges and build a coordinated map of services.

Behind this collaborative approach is the GoBeyond network, facilitated by Big Hearts, Whale Arts and Space & Broomhouse Hub. GoBeyond aims to share expertise, organise resources and encourage mutual support between community organisations and groups in South West Edinburgh.

With an estimated poverty of 22% in the ward, including the highest rate of child poverty across the city (35% vs 22%) and a working age population higher than the national average (73% vs 63%), the GoBeyond network has initiated a pro-active approach for the long-term resilience and prosperity of South West Edinburgh communities.

The first people-led ‘Community Wealth Building’ locality

The GoBeyond network facilitators would like to start a conversation with the people who live and work in South West Edinburgh with the aim to adopt a people-led strategy to create a ‘Community Wealth Building Locality’, based on wellbeing economics and a greener recovery.

Community Wealth Building refers to a pioneering and inclusive people-centred approach based on economic, social and environmental justice for the wellbeing and benefit of the local community.

Preston (Lancashire), Wirral (Merseyside) and North Ayrshire are some of the UK local authorities currently leading similar strategies, with South West Edinburgh expected to be the first people-led locality of its kind in Scotland.

Leading the Covid-19 recovery this summer

In South West Edinburgh, the three facilitators behind GoBeyond have been recognised by the Scottish Government as Community Anchor Organisations with funding awarded to coordinate the local efforts in supporting communities throughout the pandemic.

As of 22 July, a total of £55,000 in crisis grants have already been distributed to 30 resident groups and grassroots projects helping vulnerable people from Gorgie and Dalry, to Broomhouse, Sighthill and Parkhead and up to Wester Hailes and Clovestone.

Bridie Ashrowan, Chief Executive at Space & the Broomhouse Hub comments:

“GoBeyond was initially created to share ideas and resources for a pro-active response to local needs. The Covid-19 crisis has demonstrated how our collaborative approach can benefit the whole community in times of need. It’s a first achievement as we move forward to building and implementing the first community wealth building locality in South West Edinburgh.“

Note to editors:

1. GoBeyond: a 10-year plan for South West Edinburgh

GoBeyond is a network of trusted local voluntary sector partners with over 130 contributors working across local neighbourhoods in South West Edinburgh.

Their Community Wealth Building approach will take courage to build, going beyond the historic sole economic value, and shining light on the intrinsic value of people and assets that underpin a holistic approach to development in South West Edinburgh towards 2030.

As well as attracting new investments and green infrastructures into the local area, the new Community Wealth Building locality will open conversations with The City of Edinburgh Council, the Edinburgh Partnership and the Scottish Government on opportunities to ‘build back better’ and contribute to the growing community wealth and wellbeing economy strategies locally and internationally. To find out more, visit: https://wearegobeyond.org/

2. Community Anchors & Small Grants

This summer, GoBeyond is delighted to deliver financial support to grassroots projects and small community-based groups in Gorgie/Dalry, Broomhouse and Wester Hailes via its Small Community Grants scheme, which is supported by the Scottish Government’s Supporting Communities Fund via The National Lottery Community Fund.

Over 30 local groups in South West Edinburgh are receiving funds including : St Augustine’s Rugby Club, the Wester Hailes Litter Picking Group, Friends of Saughton Park, St Bride’s Centre (courses for adults), Love Gorgie Farm (educational programme), B Healthy Together (wellbeing) and Dunedin Canmore Youth Projects.

These small grants will benefit the local population affected during the Covid-19 pandemic and are made available through Community Anchor Organisations selected by the Scottish Government: Big Hearts Community Trust, Space & Broomhouse Hub and the Whale Arts Agency.

Media requests:

Phone enquiries: 0131 603 4816

▪    CRAIG WILSON, General Manager at Big Hearts Community Trust: craig.wilson@bighearts.org.uk

▪    BRIDIE ASHROWAN, Chief Executive at Space & Broomhouse Hub:  bridie@spacescot.org

▪    LEAH BLACK, Chief Executive at Whale Arts Agency: leah@whalearts.co.uk

WHALE Arts is …

... the cultural anchor organisation for Wester Hailes. We are a community-led arts charity and social enterprise, set up by local people in 1992. Our mission is to be the creative heart of a vibrant, thriving community.

WHALE Arts

30 Westburn Grove,
Edinburgh,
EH14 2SA
0131 458 3267
info@whalearts.co.uk

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We are seeking a creative, well organised self-starter to develop and deliver engaging content communicating the impact of our work and connecting us to our community, partners, artists and funders. PermanentPart-Time – 14 hours a week£26,326 pro-rataBased at WHALE Arts Centre, Wester Hailes, Edinburgh, EH14 2SA WHALE Arts is a community-led arts charity and social […]

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